Bodies of 3 workers found after fireworks warehouse explodes

July 6 2003

The bodies of three workers killed during an explosion at a fireworks warehouse were found yesterday in what was the second major deadly fireworks accident this week.

The blast on Friday evening destroyed about half the large metal warehouse and shattered nearby homes. The previous day, a truck packed with fireworks exploded in Bonita Springs, Florida, killing five workers who had been unloading the shipment for an Independence Day display.

The bodies of the three workers were removed from the building at Pyrotechnics by Lamb Co, said Clay Alexander, an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Authorities had not reported finding any other casualties early yesterday.

Five people suffered minor injuries, and the warehouse and six nearby houses were damaged or destroyed.

Twelve fireworks displays planned for Independence Day Friday night in east Texas cities were cancelled.");document.write("

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Investigators have said both the Texas and the Florida blasts appeared to be accidental. "We're leaning toward static electricity, some kind of spark," Kilgore Police Chief Ronnie Moore said.

Lamb's business was registered and had no prior problems, Alexander said.

The blasts shot fireworks and other debris several blocks in this town 185 kilometres south-east of Dallas. Left behind were charred houses with buckled roofs, missing shingles and flattened fences.

The ATF said thousands hundreds of kilograms of fireworks were inside the warehouse and a tractor-trailer rig parked outside the building. The area was secured yesterday morning, and the remaining fireworks were being taken to a remote firing range to be detonated.